Guardian: Darkness Rising

by Melanie Houtman

  “Isn’t it always about you?” Louise said; she simply couldn’t keep herself from making snarky remarks at her ex. Antonio paid it no mind.

  “I have to go back to Lunaria, Louise,” he said. “Do you remember that old story I told you shortly after we got together? It’s happening again.”

  Louise set her jaw. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Ah, of course,” Antonio sighed. “You never believed that story.”

  Louise sipped from her coffee. She hadn’t offered Antonio any. ”I don’t see why I should.”

  “Well, maybe because it’s true?” Antonio snapped. “There are five people – no, seven people who’ve confirmed that everything I told you was true.”

  “Magic?” Louise mumbled. “Really, Antonio?”

  “Then explain why me and my friends were gone for nearly an entire month,” Antonio suggested. Louise shrugged; she couldn’t really deny that as a fact.

  “Well... even if it is true,” she said, “then why are you going back?”

  Antonio scratched his chin. “To finish off any unfinished business we had accidentally left,” he said, and then stood up. “Anyway. If Mari comes back while I’m away... of if I don’t come back, and she does... then tell her where her father went.

  “And then tell her he’s sorry that he wasn’t there for her.”

  Antonio then turned around and left, leaving Louise sitting on the couch. She didn’t even go after him; she simply listened to the screeching sound of Antonio’s tires as they raced through the street.

  Return to Lunaria

  The adults had no time to take a break during the day. There was much to discuss – and that included making plans. It quickly turned out that no one truly had any idea what to do – after all, the adults didn’t know what they would be up against. The fact that they would be forced to put their children in danger didn’t help, either.

  The adult Guardians spent the time they had left instructing their children on what to do when they got to Lunaria; just simply stay close to their parents and wait for further instructions.

  Anna and Lucy promised James they would stick together. The two women knew their children would need someone to talk to. They’d had the same experience twenty-five years ago, so they knew what the teenagers were going through. The kids that stayed behind, for that matter, promised to take care of each other – nearly every teenager had a sibling they’d be leaving behind (save Felicity and Tony, as they were both part of the Bond of Light).

  But eventually, night-time came, and it was time to go to sleep.

  *

  Unlike his previous visit, James was not the first to wake up this time, nor did he wake up in Keepers’ Cove, as he’d originally expected. But, of course – why would the Spirits send him and his friends there? It made much more sense that Akilah would bring the Guardians to the castle.

  James put on the clothes he found at the foot of his bed; it was his old Guardian’s attire, but then brand new – and fir for his newfound bread shoulders. Obviously, the clothes he wore as the scrawny sixteen-year-old he’d been, never would’ve possibly fit him now.

  As soon as he was dressed, James went out to explore the castle, in search of his friends – the room he’d woken up in had four more empty beds, so he instantly assumed that the others were already awake – and most likely waiting for him, too.

  James felt curious as to what he was about to discover; the other Spirits, Akilah’s siblings, would be there now, too. And since the Guardians had never met any of them – save Akilah, of course -, this was bound to become an interesting meeting.

  As he walked around the castle, James took some time to appreciate its breathtaking beauty. A lot had changed in the past twenty-five years; as he looked out of the windows as he passed them, James could see that the Land of Light had been restored to its full glory. The light had been returned, and it was beautiful; it nearly made James forget why he was there.

  He quickly tried to find his way to the Ritual Chamber, where he expected to find the others. It’d been a long time since he’d last set foot in this castle, and even then, he never got to see too much of it, which made him more or less worried that he would get lost quite easily.

  But luckily, that didn’t happen, and he’d soon found the room with the glass-ceiling.

  As soon as James had been noticed, all five Spirits of Light rose from their seats. “James,” Akilah said warmly, beckoning him. “We were waiting for you. Please, join us.”

  Before sitting down, James shook hands with the other Spirits; it was as if they were idolizing him. And maybe they were; after all, James had sacrificed himself for the sake of Lunaria.

  “Welcome, Guardians and children,” one of the Spirits said as James sat down. “You might not have been aware of it at the time, Guardians, but we’ve followed your every move from the shadows the last time you were here, and we must say we were very impressed.”

  The Spirit was looking young and boyish; his skin was a shimmering crystal blue, and his silver eyes glittered as jewels in his face. He had white freckles on his cheeks, and his hair was a messy bunch of silver strands with golden highlights. “I am the youngest of the Spirits,” he said. “Ince, the Spirit of Innocence. And these are my brother and sisters.”

  “Why, thank you,” Thomas said. “We are very honoured.”

  As James looked around the table, he noticed that all of his friends were dressed in their old clothes as well. Their children were dressed in clothes that were fairly similar to the parents’, but still noticeably different.

  “No, we are honoured,” another Spirit said. She was a female with fair skin, and wavy, dark brown hair that was decorated with flowers. She quickly proceeded to introduce herself as Aoife, the Spirit of Life. “You risked your lives multiple times to save our world. If it hadn’t been for you, our world would’ve been lost to the Master.”

  The Spirit who was sitting next to Aoife nodded. He had lavender skin and one dark blue and one golden eye, which darkened as he spoke. “But, I believe that Akilah has already told you that we need your help once more.” He paused to look at Akilah.

  “Aharnish is right,” Akilah said. “The Master will rise again if we don’t do anything. And now the Book’s magic has been released, matters are worse than ever.”

  Luke shifted uneasily in his chair. He wasn’t sure what to think of everything he saw; thus far, his father hadn’t been lying. But... a world full of magic, and the balance between the Light and Dark of said magic being endangered? Unlike his father, Luke was always a person of ratio. He didn’t think that magic could exist anywhere outside a storybook, and thus, he didn’t think it existed here.

  Akilah smiled at Luke, reassuring him a little. “This was bound to happen sooner or later, Lucas,” she said. “Please, don’t blame yourself for everything that has happened. For now, we should worry about the Master.” Her expression darkened. “He has pulled someone from your world, someone you know. And the Master’s going to use her against you.”

  *

  Earlier that day

  It was deep in the night, and now eighteen-year-old Mari was trying to fall asleep, but without such luck. And as she finally started to drift off, something woke her up.

  “So... Marilyn Belluci. The girl I’ve heard so much about.”

  Mari opened her eyes at the sound of a deep voice saying her name. She didn’t see anything but darkness at first, before noticing two glowing red eyes staring at her.

  “Who... are you?” Mari said; as she looked around, she noticed she was no longer in her bed in her safe hideout – the mysterious figure in front of her had taken her outside.

  “You could consider me... an old friend of your father’s,” the mysterious figure said; Mari wasn’t sure whether it was just too dark to see or he didn’t have a face at all. “What are you doing out here all alone, Marilyn?”

  “...I don’t know,” Mari said, slightly hesitant. “I should be asking you. Why’d you bring
me out here?”

  The dark figure in front of Mari let out a deep chuckle. “Amusing,” he said. “Don’t you remember me, child? The face in your dreams? The voice that called you out here?”

  Mari’s eyes filled with confusion at first, but then the realisation hit her. When she listened closely, she indeed recognized his voice. The voice in her dreams had been a tad younger, friendlier too, maybe – but it was him.

  “...Then you can answer my question,” Mari said. “You said it yourself four years ago. You said that there was more out there. And I still haven’t found what you told me to look for!” She finally decided to get up from the ground to face the figure in front of her. “Now, tell me, what did I leave my home for four years ago, break my parents’ hearts for, leave my best friends behind for?”

  Something of smugness appeared in the figure’s eyes. “Why, Mari,” he said, “for me, of course.”

  Mari frowned in confusion, defensively taking a few steps backward. “...What?”

  “If you come with me, I can explain everything to you,” the figure said. “There’s a magical world, a world I once was proud to call my home.” The figure lowered its glowing eyes. “But my brothers and sisters... they turned on me, and banished me. Took everything from me.” Anger hinted about in that last sentence. “They used innocent humans to clean up their mess.” He paused for a second, and the expression in his red eyes darkened. “And you know what, Mari? One of those humans was your father. And now they’ve taken him to clean up their mess again.”

  “What?” Mari said. “Who took my father?”

  “Oh,” the figure said, completely ignoring Mari’s question. “I forgot to mention. They took that precious friend of yours, too. ...Lucas is his name, isn’t it?”

  Mari’s eyes widened. “How do you know all of this?” she whispered. “I haven’t seen my family or any of my friends in four years. So how would you know who and where they are, if even I don’t?”

  “Do you want proof?” the figure said. “Then come with me, and I’ll take you to them. You can be happily reunited... if you help me with something.

  “You’ll get everything I promised you so many years ago, Marilyn. That’s an oath.”

  Mari noticed that the figure stuck out a hand at her; he was made completely of shadows... but then... more like a solid shadow. “Now, will you join me?”

  “Uh...” Mari said, hesitatingly, but took the figure’s hand eventually. “Yes, I will,” she said. “Sir...”

  “Oh, please,” the figure laughed. “Call me Asura. Or Master... whichever you prefer.”

  *

  “That scumbag had the nerve to capture my daughter!?”

  The Spirits of Light had tried to carefully share the news with the Guardians, by telling them who the Master had taken to Lunaria to help him with his dirty little plan – and Antonio didn’t take it well.

  His friends tried to calm him down as he rose up from his chair, yelling profanities that referred to the Master; the five children, who sat opposite their parents, watched silently, too afraid to utter a single word.

  “Antonio,” Akilah’s voice bellowed over his anger, strict and strong. “Please behave yourself. We will do whatever it takes to save Mari; no harm will come to her, as long as you follow my plan.”

  “Well, you better tell me what that oh-so-glorious plan is then, before I grab a sword and go kill that guy myself,” Antonio grunted as he sank back down into his chair.

  “As much as we appreciate your enthusiasm, you know you can’t do that, Antonio,” the fifth Spirit, who surprisingly hadn’t spoken a single word since James had entered the room. She had long, black hair with colourful streaks running through it, and bright blue eyes. “My name is Aine, Spirit of Joy, by the way,” she said quickly, as if it didn’t really matter. And, in the current situation it probably didn’t, but it was important for the teenagers to know her name – it made asking questions and starting conversation so much easier if you knew each other’s name.

  “We can secure Mari’s safety only if we get her away from Asura,” Akilah said. “That’s why we’ve been preparing something.”

  “We know that Asura, or, as you probably remember him, the Master, will be trying to invade the castle,” Ince said, as he rose from his chair. “But he can’t do it himself; the light that fills this Realm would instantly kill him in his current form. But, if he were to become a full-fledged Spirit or repossessed his body, he would be able to withstand the light – at least for a certain amount of time, and probably long enough to take over again if we don’t do anything about him.” He paused, just to make sure everyone was still following his story. “Now, we decided to lure him – or, at least, Mari – out, by hosting a masquerade ball in honour of your arrival.”

  Confused and worried looks were exchanged at the other side of the table, and intelligible murmurs came from the teenagers.

  “Ah,” Aoife chuckled amusedly. “Don’t be afraid; we’ll help you prepare for it. We’re just hoping that Asura will send Marilyn to the ball, so she can find his body and take it to him – and then we can step in and save her, and find out what the Master is planning. There won’t be anything serious about it, we promise.”

  “If you say so,” Luke mumbled worriedly; the same worry was reflecting in the eyes of the two boys that were sitting next to him. None of the three could dance, which meant that a ball where they’d probably have to dance in front of a whole lot of people was likely to become a total disaster. They could hear the girls snickering beside them, and Luke the boys threw them a withering look in unison.

  *

  Of course, the Master hadn’t missed the announcement about the masquerade ball that would take place that night. It was actually the reason he’d contacted Mari on Earth to get her to Lunaria that day; this ball was the ultimate opportunity for him to reunite with his body.

  Mari could easily blend in with the crowd, and make her way to the chamber where the Master’s body was kept, if she kept a low profile.

  The Master had led Mari to a chamber in his castle – for some reason, the Spirits hadn’t bothered to break it down in the past twenty-five years. Perhaps they hadn’t considered the Master truly a threat until recently.

  Mari was caught by surprised when she entered the room the Master had sent her to; the room was looking surprisingly friendly compared to the darkness that surrounded and filled the other rooms of the castle. The bed looked comfortable, with a dark oak frame and dark blue satin sheets. And on top of the satin sheets lay...

  A dress, but not just any dress; it was a gorgeous, cobalt blue ball gown.

  “What’s that?” Mari asked, instinctively knowing the Master was still following her as she approached the bed and gently stroked the dress. She allowed the soft fabric to glide past her hands as she made notes of every detail in her head. “Is this mine?” she said.

  “There are more dresses in the wardrobe,” the Master said, pointing a foggy hand at the wardrobe that stood opposite the door. “...Less formal, of course, but this one’s for a special occasion.”

  Mari turned around in surprise. “For what special occasion?” she said.

  “The Spirits are throwing a masquerade ball tonight,” the Master said; if he would’ve had a mouth, it would’ve shown a dangerous smirk right now. “I thought it’d be beneficial for the both of us if you went there... after all, you wouldn’t want to miss out on a chance to reunite with your loved ones, now would you?”

  Mari blinked her eyes in confusion. “...My parents will be there, too?” she said, slowly and bewilderedly. “But... how?” Then, she remembered their conversation from earlier that night. “...Will Luke be there, too?”

  The Master nodded slowly – although it was hardly noticeable. “Yes. He will be there.”

  Mari lowered an eyebrow, causing one of her eyes to squint in suspicion. “There’s something you want me to do at that ball, isn’t there?” she said. The Master laughed in response. “You’re lear
ning quickly, young one,” he laughed. “I’m impressed.” He continued chuckling for a short moment before continuing. “Now let me reassure you that this won’t be a very difficult task,” he said. “All you’ve got to do, is take this stone to my body and place it on the brooch that was designed for it, and you’re free to go.”

  The Master reached out a black hand, containing a tear-shaped red stone. Its surface was smooth, and the stone itself had a soft, red glow at its core.

  “Go on,” the Master pushed Mari, “take it. It won’t hurt you.”

  Slightly hesitatingly, Mari took the stone from the master, without giving it or the hand she took it with another look. She quickly slipped the stone into her pockets, disregarding it from there.

  “Very well,” the Master said, as he left the room. “There will be a carriage waiting for you outside at sunset. Make sure you’re ready by then.”

  The door clicked and locked as Mari looked around the room; there were no possible escape routes. The only window was very small and barred; aside from that, she was up too high to jump out, which meant she’d have to tie clothes and sheets together to make a rope – and there was no way she’d have enough to reach close enough to the ground. She was left with one option; get dressed and do as she was told – until she’d find a way out.

  Masquerade Ball

  Mari needed only a few moments to get dressed; it didn’t take long for her to put on the dress and to make sure it fit okay. She then brushed and pinned back her hair, to make it look half-way decent.

  She hadn’t noticed anything strange, until she glanced at her hand – the hand she’d held the Master’s stone with.

  It happened when she took the stone out of the pocket of her jeans to put it into a small purse that she’d found in the wardrobe – the veins of her hand, which were usually a vague blue underneath her skin, were now a deep black colour.

  It was for sure that the stone had caused it; in an attempt to prevent the black from spreading – and scaring people at the masquerade ball, of course – she put on the gloves that came with the dress. She hadn’t been planning on wearing at first glance, but considering her current situation, she decided to put on the gloves anyway.